


Succulent Berry

by EnOh



Series: Bug Fables Shorts [4]
Category: Bug Fables (Video Game)
Genre: Depression, Disabled Character, Gen, Technically Anna/Ven
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-08
Updated: 2020-12-08
Packaged: 2021-03-10 03:26:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,087
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27957599
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EnOh/pseuds/EnOh
Summary: Anna thinks but decides to finally talk when Asthotheles offers her advice.
Series: Bug Fables Shorts [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1689166
Comments: 5
Kudos: 19





	Succulent Berry

Anna spends most of her days sitting beneath the shade of a red canopy. She makes an attempt to muster up the energy to do _anything_ , but when she feels the phantom pains in a leg that’s no longer there, her thoughts become trapped as if in a sinking sandpit.

Every morning she wakes up, goes to her sad little spot, and watches the world go by without her. Her fiancée Ven brings her food sometimes, makes small talk. She _really really_ tries, but the smile never reaches her eyes and she feels an insurmountable amount of guilt at the worry on his face because all she can do is wallow in self-pity—imaging all the things she could have been, the places she could have gone, and all the things she loved suddenly so far out of reach.

She stumbles a few times, clumsy in her new prosthetic and the peg leg sinks into the sand not exactly designed for such terrain. She walks to her spot and stares ahead, watching passerby’s because that’s all she can think to do.

~

Astotheles rarely enters the Defiant Root, it’s too close under the Ant Kingdom’s watch and the denizens weren’t known to treat he and his kin well, often staring upon them with contempt and suspicion even when they had no reason to suspect otherwise because ladybugs, dragonflies and disabled crickets _weren’t to be trusted_. He hopes to make a short trip of it all, only here to fetch things that weren’t so easily gathered in the desert, mostly medicine, to bring back to the hideout.

So when he notices the somber ant walking into the shade of the crimson awning, it’s unusual for him to give pause, but he sees the similarly crimson peg she hobbles on. She settles herself on the ground with a far off look in her eyes—one that Astotheles is all too familiar with. He’s lost his purpose for life once, twice, and seen bugs who’ve broken for less. 

He wonders how someone like _her_ could get a look like _that_.

She taps the peg leg and sighs sadly.

Anna looks up to Astotheles when he approaches, a frown on her face, but startles a bit when he holds out a Clear Water to her. It takes her a few moments before she takes it carefully watching the intimidating bug in front of her nervously, “Thank you…?” she says with uncertainty.

“It gets easier,” he says suddenly and she blinks, confused but her eyes go wide when he pulls the cape away from himself revealing the stump that was left of his arm.

“Easier?” she echoes and almost seems to shrink into herself, “It sure doesn’t feel like it,” she admits and worries the Clear Water in her hand, it’s pleasantly cool to the touch and gives her something to do with her hands, “I’m still alive and somehow I can’t even be grateful for that, it’s pretty pathetic, huh?” she tries to laugh but it comes out more like a dull hum.

He considers her carefully, “I’ve seen more pathetic from bugs with all their limbs attached and who have lost less,” his words are callous and she doesn’t think he’s joking because his tone is flat and serious, but she smiles despite herself. She wasn’t the _most_ pathetic bug around and she reasons that’s something to be thankful for.

Anna glances to him and swallows before asking, “How did you lose your arm?” when he doesn’t answer, she works herself into a fretful apology, “I-I’m sorry, I didn’t mean—You don’t have to answer—”

“Dune scorpion,” is all he says.

She places a hand over her heart, “I’m so sorry.”

“Don’t be, it is what it is.”

She pauses, “I—“ she’s not sure if she’s ready to talk about it, but something about this man makes her want to share her burden where she can’t even bring herself to with Ven who she loves and trusts more than anyone. Perhaps she’s just tired or maybe feels some kinship between them and their…Similar disposition.

“I was outside the Defiant Root, I went to look for succulent berries to make a meal for my fiancée but I wandered too far away from town and I was alone, so I suppose that made me an easy target for bandits,” she looks down, her voice carrying an edge of bitterness to it, “I shouldn’t have run away, I should have just given them my belongings,” she swallows hard, “When I tried to run away, they got my leg. The bandits took my things and I had crawled halfway back to town before they found me,” she tapped the peg leg, “But infection had already set in and there was nothing that could be done for it.”

“I’m sorry…” there was something in his voice she couldn’t quite place. Pain perhaps, for what she didn’t know.

“Don’t be, it is what it is,” her voice faltered a little, unsure, but she perks up when she hears him snort.

A small silence fell between them and she threads her fingers together, “Would you come visit me again?” she asks suddenly, he doesn’t look her in the eyes, “Maybe—maybe you could meet my fiancée? You remind of him a little, you’re both very…” she thinks on it for a moment, “Serious, but I think you would get along,” on some level she realizes that the bug in front of her is a stranger and one with a very threatening demeanor, but being around him, speaking to him, has brought such a great sense of relief to her that she thinks it would be a shame if they never saw each other again.

“I won’t be here for long,” he says and disappointment crosses her features, “But I’ll…Try to stop by next time I’m nearby,” she sits up.

They exchange a few more words and she waves to him when he leaves, he offers her a quick nod in response. She only realizes several minutes after the fact that she never asked him his name.

…But he did say he would visit her again and there was always next time.

When Ven comes to visit her, he’s surprised to see her in such high spirits. She tells him all about her new friend and is eager to introduce them in the future and for the first time since she lost her leg, she decides that for dinner she wants to eat something with succulent berries.


End file.
